ISIS 'sleeper cell’ given passports and cash as part of plot to attack the ‘entire West'

RAID: Three suspected terrorists were seized in a commando swoop in Germany

The trio of Syrians were arrested today (September 13) in a massive operations by anti-terror special forces in Germany.

Spooks believe they were brought into Europe by the same deranged monsters who smuggled militants into France to carry out the bloody rampage in Paris.

German interior minister Thomas de Maziere said the suspects were a "sleeper cell” and the arrests proved ISIS were out to target “the entire West”.

EPA

COMMANDOS: The trio swooped on the men, aged 17 to 26, across Hamburg

One suspect, Mahir Al-H, is reported to have joined ISIS in September 2015 and been given weapon and explosives training in Raqqa.

In October last year, he and the other two suspects, Mohamed A. and Ibrahim M., signed up with the cult's official responsible for operations and attacks outside their territory and travelled to Europe, the prosecutors said.

ISIS allegedly provided them with passports, more than $1,000 in cash and mobile phones with a special communications app.

The trio travelled through Turkey and Greece before arriving in Germany in mid-November 2015, at the height of the migrant crisis.

GETTY

TERROR: Minister de Maiziere claimed the trio were part of a 'sleeper cell'

Paris attacks: Suspect Salah Abdeslam shot & arrested

Friday, 18th March 2016

The most wanted IS memember Salah Abdeslam was shot and arrested in a counter terrorism raid in Brussels, said to be linked to last year's Paris attacks, in which 130 people died.

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Sky News

Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam shot and arrested in Brussels

Special forces swooped on the trio after weeks of surveillance.

Prosecutors said they had been sent from the war torn country to "either to carry out a mission that they had been informed about or to wait for further instructions" for an attack.

Europe is on high security alert after a series of militant strikes in France, Belgium and Germany.

The world pays tribute to Paris

Friday, 27th November 2015

The world has united in an act of solidarity for the victims of the Paris terror attacks. Landmarks around the world have been lit in blue, white, and red to symbolise the French flag.

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AFP/Getty Images

People attend the national and republican tribute, a solemn ceremony in honour of the 130 people killed in the November 13 Paris attacks

Minister de Maiziere said they arrived in late 2015.

More than 200 police were involved in the operation to arrest the three men, aged 17 to 26.

They were held after raids at refugee housing in towns north of Hamburg. German authorities searched the flats of the three suspects.

De Maiziere noted that two of the Paris attackers last year had registered as refugees. "That suggests that ISIS was determined to send these kinds of people to blend in with refugees in order to cause uncertainty in Europe and Germany."

He added: "The French connection is what makes this case so special.

"We have to find out if these are individual links or if there is a larger network. It shows IS is not only targeting France or Germany or Italy or Belgium or Britain - but the entire West."